Bill Tieleman is one of BC's best known communicators, political commentators and strategists.
Bill writes a politics column Tuesdays in 24 Hours newspaper and The Tyee online magazine.
Bill has been Communications Director in the B.C. Premier's Office and at the BC Federation of Labour.
Bill owns West Star Communications, a consulting firm providing strategy and communication services for labour, business, non-profits and government.

When
students across British Columbia are out of class
this week and possibly beyond due to rotating strikes by teachers, ask this
question: Who's been in charge for the past 13 years?

When
the provincial negotiator says teachers will soon be locked out, their pay cut
by 10 per cent, bonus offers rescinded, and told not to work more than 45
minutes before and after classes, ask who called the shots?

When
graduation ceremonies, extracurricular activities, exams and summer school are
all put at risk, when parents scramble to find care for their children, ask who
let the important relationship with teachers get so out of hand for so long?

After
multiple courts have ruled the B.C. government broke the law, bargained in bad
faith and deliberately attempted to provoke
a strike in 2011 for political gain, ask who is accountable for that?

The
answer is obvious: Premier Christy Clark and the BC Liberal government.

Years
of broken promises

This
isn't a simple case of incompetence or negligence on the job. No, the BC
Liberals have deliberately sabotaged teachers since then-premier Gordon
Campbell appointed Clark as education minister from 2001 to 2004.

In
2002, Clark introduced legislation she wrongly said would fix education for
years to come.

"I
have said many times, and I've said it today, that I know teachers care about
children. I know that's why they choose to do their jobs, because they care
about imparting knowledge to children," Clark told the Legislature on
Jan. 26, 2002 in debating Bill 28, the Orwellian-named Public Education
Flexibility and Choice Act -- legislation with several sections later struck down
as unconstitutional in 2011 by the B.C. Supreme Court.

"That's
why I, as well as students and their parents, am concerned about the threat of
walkouts and continued withdrawal of extracurricular activities," Clark
concluded.

Sound
familiar, 12 years later? Clark has been premier since 2011, yet here we are
today with a still-broken system, walkouts and lockouts.

Unfortunately,
the current dispute is no aberration on the BC Liberal government's part -- it
is the logical conclusion of 13 years of damaging, instead of building, a
working relationship with people who play the second most important role in
raising our kids after parents: their teachers.

Union
also at fault

Does
the BC Teachers' Federation also bear some blame? Yes, it surely does.

The
union does not appear to have significantly addressed its dysfunctional
relationship with the province outside of the bargaining period, when the
pressure is off.

But it
isn't teachers and their union that write the laws, then break them over and
over. They don't underfund education and cut special needs teachers or school
librarians. They don't increase class sizes and they don't determine class
composition.

No, that's
what Christy Clark's government does, repeatedly, and it should be held
accountable for a failing performance.

Finally, the unspoken truth. One more unspoken truth: government support for public education will continue to erode as long as Christy Clark sees private schools as an acceptable (ie cheaper for the government) alternative. As we wander down that ideological road, our current so-called "tax woes" will pale in comparison to private school tuition fees of $10,000 a year for each of our kids. We will have undone one of the best and most competitive public education systems in the world.

"Finally, the unspoken truth. One more unspoken truth: government support for public education will continue to erode as long as Christy Clark sees private schools as an acceptable (ie cheaper for the government) alternative."

It's an alternative, but public schools remain.

There's nothing wrong with private schools. They do not get the same level of funding of tax dollars that the public schools do.

"As we wander down that ideological road, our current so-called "tax woes" will pale in comparison to private school tuition fees of $10,000 a year for each of our kids. We will have undone one of the best and most competitive public education systems in the world."

This whole story is about privatization, the policy neoliberalism and the federal government, Harper, who has been cutting everything in the country (altho' the Liberals started it in 1993). Education, health, social services and Canadians are all cut loose just as in other countries, the welfare state is gone. We are on our own. Why doesn't anyone say any of this out loud? Not the media, not the average Canadian, certainly not politicians. If Harper had run on that platform, if he had at any time told the truth, do you think he would have a majority now? I want to read and hear people like you talking about the facts and get Canadians to start voicing some opinions (except the red necks from Toronto who still think Rob Ford is a good mayor).

"This whole story is about privatization, the policy neoliberalism and the federal government, Harper, who has been cutting everything in the country (altho' the Liberals started it in 1993)."

The federal Liberals were also behind the economic mess in the 1970s to mid 1980s. Paul Martin cut off health transfer payments in the 1990s.

"Education, health, social services and Canadians are all cut loose just as in other countries, the welfare state is gone. We are on our own."

The welfare state still exists in Canada. We are not the United States. There are parallel elective services in health care, there are no private emergency health care services in BC.

"Why doesn't anyone say any of this out loud? Not the media, not the average Canadian, certainly not politicians. If Harper had run on that platform, if he had at any time told the truth, do you think he would have a majority now?

He did win a majority and what does this have to do with the teacher's dispute?

"I want to read and hear people like you talking about the facts and get Canadians to start voicing some opinions (except the red necks from Toronto who still think Rob Ford is a good mayor). "

Not all Conservatives think Ford is a good mayor, just as anyone on the Left would be a fool to think Tim Louis would ever make a good councillor, or Libby Davies actually cares about anyone who isn't poor or left wing.

No, the BCTF doesn't write the laws, but they have a lengthy reputation of being militant and going far in terms of what they want. Sure one asks for more than what would be expected, but repeatedly the BCTF does far beyond reasonable (is 15% reasonable? The public does not think so, and where is the money supposed to come from?).

The BCTF should despite the Left's insistence that it is all Christy's take their share of the blame right up to 48%.

An excellent article. Finally someone sees and comments on it as it truly is. Christy Clark has been poisonous to education in British Columbia since 2002. The increase teachers propose is because Christy Clark has squashed raises for teachers over the past 4 years and teachers have received 0% increase over these 4 years. The increase teachers in BC are looking for is not excessive, and other teachers all across Canada will still be earning considerably more than teachers in BC. Christy talks about a fair deal for truck drivers, yet she is not willing to give teachers a fair deal. Teachers are passionate about doing the best they can for their students. It's too bad this government doesn't realize what a wonderful job teachers in this province are doing. By the way, Delta firefighters have just secured a 20% raise over the next few years. (This will bring a firefighter a salary which is over $8,000. more than a teacher with 6 years university training and over 30 years experience. Christy can afford to pay for the Punjabi academy awards to be held in BC, as well as pay for the roof on BC place without taking corporate sponsors, yet everyone worries about how they will be able to afford to pay teachers what they should be paid. This is not an unreasonable request. Christy has underfunded education in BC for over a decade. The public needs to realize how important it is to have a well run, properly funded education system in place. Christy Clark has been toxic to the education system, as outlined in the article I am commenting on. Finally people are speaking out on what Christy Clark has done over the past decade.

Bill Tieleman and Senator Larry Campbell, former Vancouver mayor

Jim Sinclair, Cindy Oliver, Ken Georgetti and Bill Tieleman

Bill Tieleman's coverage of the Basi-Virk/BC Legislature Raid Case praised by other journalists:

"This outstanding piece of journalism, in The Tyee, is the work of a journalist who has been deeply involved with this issue from the start and this article should be passed on as far and wide as possible."

"Bill Tieleman from 24 hours . . . . If you want to know about this trial and about this case, you have to read his blog – I mean, that’s just all there is to it – it’s required reading if you want to understand the BC Legislature Raid situation."

- Mike Smyth, columnist, The Province

"The Basi-Virk case....you’ve probably sat through more of these hearings and gone through more of the files and written about it than any other journalist in the province."

- Bill Good, host, The Bill Good Show, CKNW/Corus Radio Network

"Tieleman ...has done a first-rate job covering the trial."

- Paul Willcocks, columnist, the Victoria Times-Colonist

"Tieleman, who marries a considerable journalistic talent with one of the smartest political minds in the province, has been writing more web-exclusive material. And his coverage of the Basi-Virk trial is a must-read -- whether you're an insider or an outsider."

"24 Hours, the Vancouver paper that has been leading the coverage, as well as the hints of conspiracy in B.C."

- Norman Spector, columnist, Globe and Mail

"Although the major media in this circumstance has been giving the case significant coverage, Tieleman's reports on his blog have been outstanding.

The entire cut and thrust of legal wrangling and arguments has been covered and is accompanied by considered analysis.....His blog site coverage of the Basi-Virk trial is the most in depth treatment of one of British Columbia's biggest political scandals."

- Bill Bell, columnist, The North Shore News

"Mr. Tieleman has published online dispatches which, freed from the limitations of newsprint space or broadcast time, can run at length. They also remain available for those select readers who become obsessed with a case also known as Railgate.....

In another bizarre twist to a story with no shortage of them, Mr. Tieleman went to work one day in December only to discover his office had been ransacked. Bookcases had been tipped over and papers strewn, but nothing was missing.

To top it off, a press kit for the self-published novel The Raid, written by a retired military officer in Metchosin and featuring on its cover a photograph from the 2003 police raid, had been left in a conspicuous place."

- Tom Hawthorn, columnist, The Globe and Mail

Nobody has followed the Basi-Virk affair over its past five years with greater diligence than local journalist, Bill Tieleman....Tieleman deserves our thanks, a fistful of journalism awards and some merit citation for citizenship.